Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford
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Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford KG, PC (5 December 1905–3 August 2001), known as the Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician, author, and social reformer. He was a noted Labour minister and is considered by some to be a human rights campaigner, however he attracted much controversy with his (ultimately unsuccessful) campaign for the release of Moors murderer Myra Hindley from prison, and also for his high-profile opposition to the gay rights movement. He was also criticised by the media for touring the sex clubs of Europe which he had attempted to close down. Both of these campaigns led to him being the target of a particularly high level of ridicule and criticism from the tabloid media.
Campaigning
Longford was a founding member of New Bridge, an organisation founded in 1956, which aims to help prisoners stay in touch with society and integrate back into it. He was a leading figure in the Nationwide Festival of Light of 1971, protesting against the commercial exploitation of sex and violence in Britain, and advocating the teaching of Christ as the key to recovering moral stability in the nation. His anti-pornography campaigning made him the subject of derision as Lord Porn when he and former prison doctor Christine Temple-Saville set out on a wide-ranging tour of sex industry establishments in the early 1970s to compile the self-funded Longford Report. The press made much of his visits to strip clubs in Copenhagen at the time.
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